Aaron Rodgers played just over one half of football against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. That was all he needed to give his team a 45-0 lead and throw six touchdown passes, all of which came in the first half. The Green Bay Packers star tied an NFL record with his six first-half scores, but he wanted more.
The NFL record for most touchdown passes in a game is seven. It is a feat that has been accomplished by seven players, including both Peyton Manning and Nick Foles last season. Rodgers admitted on Tuesday that he wanted to be the eighth.
“Yeah, I knew what the record was,” he said on his weekly ESPN Milwaukee radio show, per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “It would’ve been nice to get seven. We’re still playing. I know it’s 42-0 (at halftime), but it’s the NFL still. There’s talented guys who are getting paid on both sides. So we were still playing football there in the second half.”
Come on, Aaron. When your team is leading by three scores in the second half, then you can argue that you have to keep playing because anything can happen. The Cleveland Browns pulled off the greatest comeback for a road team in NFL history earlier this season when they trailed 27-3 at the half. There’s no way the Bears, also on the road, were going to erase a six-touchdown deficit.
“I think you owe it to the game to keep playing in similar situations, but there’s a time and a place,” Rodgers admitted. “We weren’t going to stay in a no-huddle mindset there in the third quarter. We huddled up, we kind of were a little more deliberate on offense. That’s respect for the opponent and respect for the game.
“I believe in respect for the game, respect for your opponents, winning with class and losing with class.”
Given the way the Packers’ offense has been playing, Rodgers might get another shot at the record before the regular season ends.
